For almost a thousand years, the immortal Nightmare Moon has reigned over Equestria as Empress. To the average pony, Nightmare Moon is an overarching enigma whose rule is absolute and whose wrath is terrible. But to Twilight Sparkle, who as an orphan has never known her parents, the Empress is something else entirely. When the young unicorn is brought under the royal wing as an apprentice, she learns a great deal more about the supposed tyrant than she ever knew. But as Twilight is introduced to life with her new mentor, she is thrust into a world of political intrigue, conspiracies and secrets. Secrets that were never meant to be revealed. As allies and enemies plot against the very peace of the nation, will Twilight fall prey to the perils of her new position? Or will she prosper and find in Nightmare Moon the mother she never had?

============

My eternal gratitude to my editor, LordOfTheWrongs, without whom Night's Favoured Child would not be the story it is today.

Now with added TVtropes!

When Apple Bloom asks the question her sister has been regreting for a long time, how will Applejack recall the darkest moments of her life when her world shattered?

After Twilight was doing research in the Everfree forest, she stumbles upon a piece of evidence that leads her on a path to a whole new discovery. She is on her way to figure out what is behind this clue.

The Changelings have been defeated and Shining Armor and Princess Cadence have said their vows, but that still leaves the Mane Six and others with the issue of the strain on their friendships. And among all the guests present at the reception, a few of them are going to be suprised with what new relationships are formed.

A live reading by Alchemystudent is available here.

In this alternate dimension, the land of Equestria is a dark and dangerous place filled with humans! Follow the adventures of the brave heroes who are the equivalent of the Mane six on their quest to restore balance and order to this strange and wonderful land through the power of brotherhood!

*note* I am just a little unhappy with how this story turned out, but I have no doubt that there is someone who could make a much better version. That said, if you can build off of the premise then I give you my blessing to retell this story however you want.

There is a legend. A legend of six heroes destined to protect Equestria from danger. But these six are not the Elements of Harmony. They are more.

The Steadfast Commander.
The True Genius.
The Vigilant Eye.
The Merciless Wrath.
The Fighting Spirit.
The Lone Wolf.

They are the true Protectors of Equestria.
They are the Guardians.
They are Noble.

Alright, so here is the story I have teased on my blog, The Noble Guardians! If you already guessed the concept, good for you! But for the rest of you, this is a Halo: Reach Crossover. I have seen a couple fics in which Six or Jorge are brought to Equestria, but they were always alone, so I decided to bring them all together as one. This will follow the show's storyline, with Noble acting as additional characters to the episodes, but don't worry, I guarantee they will be major characters with their own arcs and there will be plenty of original situations. I will also most likely skip any episodes in which Noble would have little to no involvement. (This will be few and far between, one example being "Call of the Cutie" I mean, even the Mane Six are only minor characters in that episode. I'll probably either mention those in passing or have another story going on with those episodes occurring in the background.) Anyway, see how Noble reacts to becoming Equestria's destined protectors!
Cover image credit goes to Gekko3309.
Naturally, this story contains spoilers for Halo: Reach

This story is a sequel to Post Nuptials

In the aftermath of the wedding, Spike is bitter and avoiding everyone. Twilight's determined to find out what's bothering her charge, but she walks a very fine line when dealing with an emotionally distraught child.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash suspects something's wrong with Scootaloo, so she starts spending more time with her in hopes of picking the secret from her brain. As she begins to truly mentor the young filly for the first time ever, she begins to see the advantages to having a little sister.

And while all this is going on, Pinkie is struggling with some old family issues that have been brought to the surface, meaning she might have to confront her past at last.

Art by Conicer

Daring Do seeks a favor from her sister in Ponyville. Due to buried grudges, things quickly get out of hoof. She soon finds herself on her most perilous mission yet... with her biggest fan in the world. In the midst of truth and lies, loyalty and treachery, love and hate, one thing is clear ― some family situations are stranger than fiction.

The story extends in Through the Looking-glass and What Pinkie Found There and The Daughter Doo: Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader.

Many thanks to Honey Mead and statoose for their watchful and helpful pre-reading.

Ckat_Myla and statoose (CatNStat) have started an excellent reading of TSD.

After the War of the Ring and the return of peace to Middle-earth, Gandalf the White departs for Equestria to visit two old friends of his; specifically, a certain pair of alicorn sisters.

Yet he does not foresee that Equestria, like ponykind, has changed with the years since his previous visit, and so he is quite unprepared for what lies ahead. Can the Wizard endure the trials that this new journey will bring? Surely, but only if he makes a few more friends along the way.

Six more, to be exact.

Written with a heavily Tolkien-influenced style, which has been sampled by:

thefluffyone
LeJokstereerre
TheProfessor86

Countless thanks for your help, guys!

(Originally posted on 8/21/12 on FIMfiction. This is written by an author that has only seen the films and has yet to finish the books, so there may be slight discrepancies.)

An ordinary afternoon at Canterlot's Summer Sun Faire becomes extraordinary when a young filly gets too curious and Princess Cadence experiences every foalsitter's worst nightmare. This is how one Princess discovered there is more to Twilight Sparkle than she ever imagined, and realized she is truly anything but "a regular old unicorn."

EDIT: Featured on Equestria Daily on 12/31/12. It's a New Year's miracle!